15 Super-Safe Stocks to Help Fund Your Retirement (or Help You Get There)

The stock market has been battered lately, making it harder for people already retired or planning to get there soon to keep their finances in line. But there are still good choices out there that can provide reliable dividend income through inflation, recession, and whatever else is ailing the economy.

Some of these stocks are still above water even as most of the market has been tanking, while others are beaten down now but can be expected to rally nicely when the market rebounds.

And, so far, it always has.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, "I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I'd be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of "5 Growth Stocks Under $49" for FREE for a limited time only.

Realty Income (NYSE: O) brands itself as "The Monthly Dividend Company," and it has done just that for 627 straight months. This owner of more than 11,000 retail properties has been through thick and thin over its 53-year history. Realty Income's stock is currently down about 10% for the year, pushing its very reliable yield up to about 4.5%.

ALSO READ: Best Real Estate Dividend Stocks

Like Realty Income, Agree Realty (NYSE: ADC) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in leasing retail stores. REITs are required to pay at least 90% of their taxable income as dividends to shareholders, and Agree has done that reliably for decades.

Equally agreeable, Agree Realty stock is still up about 1% or so year to date, at a time when most equities are in the tank, and it's yielding about 3.8%.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED) has been publicly traded since 1823, the longest of any company on the New York Stock Exchange. This essential provider of electricity, gas, and steam to about 10 million customers in and around the Big Apple also is a Dividend Aristocrat, with 48 straight years of payout bumps that now has its stock yielding about 3.2%.

ALSO READ: S&P 500's Best Dividend Aristocrats

Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is the parent company of Google. Its stock is down nearly 30% so far in this very bad year for the markets. But a $10,000 investment in the tech and search giant's stock when it first went public in 2004 would now be worth a cool $371,000.

The company doesn't pay a dividend, so this is strictly a growth stock, but there's ample reason to believe the stock price could rise again, allowing investors to cash out at opportune times to fund their retirement.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests in stocks of the 500 largest U.S. companies based on the S&P 500 index.

Total-market funds like this regularly outperform individual stock pickers, and the overall trajectory has been up, despite the occasional meltdown like we're seeing now. Plus, it pays dividends, to the tune of about 1.6% at this writing.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, "I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I'd be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of "5 Growth Stocks Under $49" for FREE for a limited time only.

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) is a fraction of the size of Google and the other tech giants, but this owner of upscale urban shopping and mixed-use centers is a Dividend King, with 54 straight years of dividend increases and a current yield of about 4.5%. Experienced management and a presence in strong local markets should help keep the record going.

ALSO READ: Dividend Kings of 2022

American States Water (NYSE: AWR) is at the top of the list of Dividend Kings, with 69 consecutive years of payout increases that have its yield at about 1.8%. This provider of that most essential product -- water -- serves more than 260,000 customers in 10 California counties and delivers electricity to about 25,000 customers in the Golden State's San Bernardino County.

York Water (NASDAQ: YORW) makes American States Water, and pretty much every other publicly traded company, look like a youngin'.

This York, Pennsylvania, provider of water and wastewater treatment services has been paying dividends for 206 straight years and is now yielding about 1.7%.

York Water is relatively small, with a market cap of about $670 million, but there's something to be said about such reliability.

ALSO READ: 3 Stocks That Have Paid a Dividend for at Least 140 Consecutive Years

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) just keeps on keeping on. A stock price that's down about 14% so far this year might just be another buying opportunity for this titanic brand with a market cap of about $2.4 trillion, more than many countries' entire economies.

Plus, there's a dividend right now that's yielding only about 0.6%, but it's a little something for patient investors who want to buy and hold Apple stock until the time is right to sell for retirement or other needs.

Why not consider one of the world's largest retailers for a retirement-focused portfolio? Walmart (NYSE: WMT) pays a yield of about 1.7%, and its stock is down only about 7% this year, better than the greater market but still a buying opportunity in the eyes of the many analysts who follow this stock. They give it a consensus target price of $151.41, up about 13% from the $134 level it's been trading at currently.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, "I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I'd be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of "5 Growth Stocks Under $49" for FREE for a limited time only.

As the provider of electricity to about 11 million customers in Florida and with a growing investment in renewable energy from wind and solar, NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) looks like a pretty safe play for retirement-focused investors for years to come. Right now you'll get a yield of about 2% for your stake in this parent company of Florida Power & Light.

ALSO READ: Investing in Electric Utility Stocks

American Tower (NYSE: AMT) is one of the world's largest owners of cell towers and is expanding into data centers as it continues to support the rollout of 5G networks worldwide. This REIT has raised its dividend for 13 straight years, good for a current yield of about 2.3%, and has more than doubled the total return of the S&P 500 over the past couple of decades.

Target (NYSE: TGT) stock has plunged as inflation and recession fears have soared. After it traded as high as $270 in the past year, you can now pick up shares of one of America's most popular retailers for about $165. And you can enjoy a yield of about 2.6% from a company that has raised its dividend for 52 straight years.

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is another iconic company that has produced handsome investor returns decade after decade. If you agree that people are going to keep wanting their Diet Cokes and all those other uberpopular brands for years to come, then go ahead and pay the current price of about $59 a share that's held steady even through this market plunge. And drink up to a yield of about 2.9% that follows 61 consecutive years of dividend increases.

Utilities are a generally safe way to invest, so let's end this list with Vanguard Utilities ETF (NYSEMKT: VPU). This ETF tracks the MSCI US IMI Utilities 25/50 Index and currently has about 65 stocks in its collection.

An investment here will provide a yield of about 2.6% in one of our more reliable sectors for long-term passive income ideal for retirees and anyone else who wants to either reinvest their dividends or enjoy the cash flow in other ways.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, "I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I'd be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of "5 Growth Stocks Under $49" for FREE for a limited time only.

Rising interest rates for savings accounts and CDs won't keep up with inflation, but dividend-paying stocks can help make up that shortfall. Plus, stocks with share prices that reliably grow over time allow you to cash out profitably when the time is right, regardless of whether they've been paying dividends all along.

Whether you're in retirement now or still in the planning stage, the stocks we just shared with you can be a good starting point for deciding which ones might be best for you.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Marc Rapport has positions in Agree Realty and Realty Income. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), American Tower, Apple, NextEra Energy, Target, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, and Walmart Inc. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2024 $47.50 calls on Coca-Cola, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.